Steve Madden Buys Bakers’ Walk Pair Trademark for $4 Million

St Louis—Seeking to capitalize on one of its strongest brand names, Bakers Footwear Group last week sold its Wild Pair trademark to Steve Madden Ltd. for up to $4 million.

Under the agreement, Steven Madden and Bakers entered into “a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty free perpetual license for the marks” that Bakers to continue to offer Wild Pair footwear in its stores, e-commerce and Wild Pair retail stores. Net proceeds to Bakers are estimated to be between $3.3 million and $3.9 million.

“We are pleased to continue the growth of the Wild Pair brand with this transaction,” said Peter Edison, chairman/ceo at Bakers. “Wild Pair, an iconic label known for its sexy, fashion footwear with a 39-year heritage and a highly loyal following has tremendous potential and we believe Steve Madden is the best possible company to take advantage of the significant opportunity that exists to broaden the appeal and reach of the Wild Pair label.”

When it released its latest quarterly report in December, Bakers reported a wider loss and launched a $10 million margin improvement and cost reduction program aimed at improving its cash flow.The footwear retailer said that it sales were hurt by a drop in dress boot sales, but noted that its exclusive Wild Pair and H. by Halston brands were strong performers.

“We are pleased to once again expand our diversified portfolio of brands with the addition of Wild Pair,” said Edward Rosenfeld, Steve Madden’s chairman/ceo. “We look forward to broadening the distribution and reach of the brand while maintaining the brand DNA that has made Wild Pair successful for almost 40 years.”